I’m writing this post as an ex Software Engineer at Bloomberg, following the amazing examples of Reflections on OpenAI and Reflections on Palantir.
I’m doing it primarily because I use this blog as a logbook of my life, leaving Bloomberg is an event that merits to be recorded.
At the same time knowing and understanding how alarge company like Bloomberg works and it’s structured can teach everyone something.
Initial Training
I joined Bloomberg two years ago as a new grad. The first step for new grads is the training. It lasted almost three months, during which they taught me Python, Typescript, C++, Docker, internal systems, and frameworks.
I attended real classes every day with different trainers who alternated on the various topics. Each new topic contained practical labs where I had to code or debug using the new things I had just learned.
The first part of the training concluded with a full-stack app assignment. I had several days to complete it and I had to use virtually everything I had learned to complete it.
I personally found many of the classes extremely boring.
I knew how to code in Python, so spending a couple of weeks on it was annoying, and completing the labs was tedious to say the least. Not everyone in the class was coming from a CS major, so I kind of understand why it was structured that way.
I learned many interesting ways of debugging Docker containers that I still find extremely useful today. Many internal technologies have identical patterns to their open-source counterparts, so transferable skills.
The training was also a good way to make connections. I spent a lot of time with other new grads, and it was common to do some labs pairing with other trainees.
Team Selection
Towards the end of the training, I was presented with a list of teams and their descriptions.
I had the opportunity to spend some time with the ones I thought were interesting, shadow them in their day-to-day, and ask questions.
After this, I had to rank the teams based on my preferences, and after some weeks I was assigned to a team.
I was very lucky — the team I was put in was one of my first selections.
I think that, compared to other companies of the same size, Bloomberg has a more rigid team-matching system. Neither you nor the team have much choice about which candidate to stay with.
Technologies
At Bloomberg, the majority of teams are full-stack. Each one of them is responsible for a terminal function, both the front end (made with an in-house Typescript framework) and the back end (new teams use Python; old/legacy/performance-critical systems use C++).
The development stack contains multiple in-house technologies: database, communication protocol, CI, deployment, secret management, feature flag — everything you can imagine.
Many think that internal technologies at Bloomberg are outdated or old.I can say it’s not that bad, with many being actually new enough to enjoy them.
There were only a few parts of the development cycle that I hated.
It’s also true that from team to team the experience can be drastically different, but that is true for everything in every company.
Culture
I’ve met many strong engineers at Bloomberg — I mean really strong.
The cliché that it’s full of old people waiting for pension is not true.
The average age may be a bit higher compared to Google or Meta, but I didn’t feel it that much.
It’s generally a low-stress environment, with teams in touch with clients having more deadlines compared to infra, but still acceptable.
The management is a classic multi-layer pyramid. I think Bloomberg could do much better with less structure — they have good talent and a lot of data — but this is more of a personal opinion that I’ll leave here.
If you like to work horizontally, Bloomberg has many opportunities to have impact across teams and across the company. From Guilds to internal conferences, you can have a lot of fun.
Conclusion
I hope this post can help someone know a bit more about this company.
I deliberately refrained from telling more, both about the things that I really enjoyed and the things that were a daily pain. Summing everything up, I was happy to have this experience as my first full-time job.
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